Axial-fan blower

ABSTRACT

An in-line blower having a housing with a substantially straight airflow path. A motor and fan are positioned within the airflow path, below the handle of the blower. A battery powers the motor, and is located below the housing so that the handle, motor and fan, and the battery are vertically aligned so the weight of the blower is aligned with the handle, and reduces moment forces acting thereon.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/132,018, filed on Mar. 12, 2015. The entire disclosure of the aboveapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to blowers, specifically axial-fan orin-line type blower designs.

BACKGROUND

Axial-fan or in-line type blowers are known in the prior art, andtypically include a fan whose axis is aligned with the air outlet sothat the airflow is not forced to undergo any significant turn or bend,thereby increasing airflow efficiencies.

An example of such a design is shows in U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0076672,which shows a blower having an air inlet opening 13, an axial blower orfan 6 and an outlet opening 15 that are, for the most part, linearlyaligned so as to reduce any curves which may impede airflow. Forcordless or battery powered blowers, the battery is often located at therear of the blower where the air intake exists, and so this presents anissue since the battery must be moved so as not to obstruct the airintake.

Another example of an in-line blower is shown in US Pub. No.2013/0239361, where the battery is not attached to the blower, butrather placed on a user's back. This design requires a harness to securethe battery to the user's back and requires an electrical cable whichbetween the battery and blower, which can get tangled or otherwiseimpede the user's movement.

Yet another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,314 where the batteries areintegrally secured in the handle of the blower. This design has thedisadvantage of not having a removable battery, which is desirable forcharging and continuous use with multiple batteries.

Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an in-line blower thatis comfortable and easy to use.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not acomprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

In one form, the present teachings provide a blower that includes anelectric motor, a rotatable fan driven by the electric motor, a handle,a battery, and an airflow tube. The airflow tube is generally straightso that the airflow through the blower does not undergo any significantchange in direction. Additionally, the handle, motor and fan arevertically aligned so that the center-of-gravity of the blower is belowwith the handle, reducing any moment forces on the user.

In another form, the blower includes a battery housing surrounding thebattery to protect it from damage. The battery housing can be used tosupport the blower when placed on the ground or other surface, furtherprotecting the blower housing from scuffing damage.

In yet another form, the battery housing can be secured to the blowerhousing at an angle so that it's resting position on the ground isidentical to the in-use position so that a user can immediately use theblower when picked up without having to readjust his grip.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only ofselected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary blower constructed inaccordance with the teachings of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view in partial section of the blower of FIG.1;

FIG. 2A is another side sectional view of the blower of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the blower of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the blower of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of components of a blower;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the blower of FIG. 1 placed on a surface;

FIG. 7A shows the position of the blower of the present invention, whileon the ground and held by a user;

FIGS. 7B-7D show the position of prior art blower while on the groundand held be a user; and

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of an corded electric blower.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 2A of the drawings, a blowerconstructed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosureis generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The blower includesblower housing 12, a handle 14 positioned above the housing 12, and anair intake grill 16 at the rear of the housing 12. The housing 12surrounds an airflow tube 18 which directs the airflow through theblower. The airflow tube 18 has a first end or inlet end 18A (shown inFIG. 2A) at the rear of the blower and is covered by the air intakegrill 16. The airflow tube 18 has a second end or exhaust end 18B at afront end through which air exits the blower (shown in FIG. 2). Abattery housing 20 is attached to the bottom of the housing and holds abattery 22.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, the battery 22 is electrically connected to amotor 24, positioned inside the blower housing 12, to deliver energy tothe motor and drive fan 25. The fan 25 pulls air in through the airintake grill 16, through the fan 25, around the motor 24 and out throughthe exhaust end 18B of the airflow tube 18. As shown, airflow tube 18 isa substantially uniform body and provides a linear air path along thelongitudinal direction of the blower, generally defined by the x-axis.The motor 24 and fan 25 are positioned within the airflow tube 18 in thepath of the airflow so that their axes are parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the blower. The tube 18 can be formed from a single integralbody, or may be formed from several parts that are combined to form thebody.

The blower includes a variable speed trigger 26 having a logic levelswitch 27. The switch is connected to a PCB 29 and the trigger distancedetermines the level of output from the switch, for example 0V-5V, thatis then translated by the PCB 29 to output a corresponding voltage rangeto the motor 24, for example 0V-20V, that varies the speed of the motor24, and consequently, controls the air speed through the blower. A speedlock 28 can mechanically lock the trigger 26 at a set speed to relievethe user from continually holding the trigger 26 in position.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the motor 24 and fan 25 are placed in the housing12 below the handle 14. Additionally, the battery 22 is placed generallybelow the motor 24 so that the heaviest components of the blower arevertically aligned and the center-of-gravity (CoG) (as shown in FIG. 2)of the blower is directly below the handle 14. Having the CoG alignedwith the handle provides many advantages. First, when the blower is heldat a user's side, the weight of the blower is in line with the user'sarm so that there is no moment acting on the user's hand. In otherwords, the blower does not tend to tip forward or backward, and so theuser does not have to exert any force to keep the blower level orotherwise in position.

Second, since the weight of the unit is centered at the handle, thisalso reduces the force required to turn the blower side-to-side (rotateabout the y-axis), as illustrated in FIG. 3. And third, the battery 22acts as a ballast helping to maintain the blower in position in both thelateral direction (as shown in FIG. 4) and longitudinal direction.

In reference to FIG. 5, additional benefits of the arrangement of thehandle 14, fan 25, motor 24, and battery 22 are seen. In addition tohaving the component vertically aligned, it is desirable to have the fan25 as close to the handle 14 as possible to reduce any moment forcesthat are produced by the air exiting the airflow tube 18 (eg. the blowerwould tend to want to go backward in the user's hand). So for example,arrangement A is preferable over arrangement B, because when the fan 25is operating, the air blowing out of the airflow tube 18 creates amoment partially determined by the distance between the handle and thefan 25. The greater this distance, the larger the moment forces created,which must be opposed by the user to maintain the blower in position.The distance A is less than distance B, and so produces small forces onthe handle 14. Additionally, these same forces make it more difficult tocontrol the blower when rotating it about the y-axis (see FIG. 3).

Now referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the battery housing 20 is molded from adurable plastic, for example glass-filled polypropylene, and attached tothe housing 12 to support the blower when placed on the ground. Thebattery housing 20 is designed to withstand drops and endure daily wearand tear from being scraped and banged on the ground or other surface.The battery housing 20 includes a top wall, side walls, and a footportion 30 that extends outwardly to provide a larger support surfacefor the blower.

Now referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the longitudinal axis ofthe blower housing 12 and the airflow tube 18, as identified by thex-axis, is at an angle ^(θ) ₁ relative to the ground surface 32 when theblower 10 is sitting on the ground. The angle ^(θ) ₁ is between 3-10degrees, and in a preferred embodiment is approximately 5.6 degrees.Also, the longitudinal axis of the handle, as identified by h, is at anangle ^(θ) ₂ relative to the longitudinal axis x of the blower housing.The angle ^(θ) ₂ is between 15 and 25 degrees, and in a preferredembodiment is 20.5 degrees.

The angle of the blower housing 12 and handle 14 are such that theblower 10 is automatically in an in-use position when picked up by auser. This can be seen in FIG. 7A, where the angle of the blower housing12 and airflow tube 18 are substantially similar in the in-use positionheld by the user, and when on the ground. Contrast this with FIGS.7B-7D, which show examples of prior art units, where the angles of theexhaust tube are significantly different when sitting on the groundcompared to the in-use position in the user's hand. This requires theuser to then readjust his grip to get the blower in the proper position.

An alternative embodiment of the blower is shown in FIG. 8 where similarcomponents are labeled with the same reference number. Here the electricblower does not require a battery and can be powered by alternativemeans, such as a power cord (not shown) attached to an outlet.

Here, the motor 24 has been moved out of the airflow tube 18 andpositioned below the housing 12. The motor 24 is secured within a motorhousing 40 below the main housing 12, or alternatively, the motorhousing 40 can be formed integrally and as part of main housing 12. Themotor 24 has a drive shaft 42 that is connected to a first end of abelt-drive or pulley system 34. The pulley system 34 is enclosed in atransmission casing 44, with a drive belt 46 therein, that connects thedrive shaft 42 of the motor with a drive shaft 48 of the fan 25. In thisway, rotation of the motor drive shaft 42 is transferred to the fan 25.In a preferred embodiment, the ratio of the pulley system is 1:1, but itshould be understood that other ratios can be utilized.

The removal of the motor 24 out of the airflow tube 18 allows a largermotor to be used, since it won't be limited by the diameter of theairflow tube 18. Using larger motors, while maintaining fan size, and/ortube dimensions allows an optimized design for maximum airflowefficiency. This design also maintains the weight balance of theprevious embodiment with the motor 24 acting as a ballast, helping tostabilize the blower when in use, similar to that described in theprevious embodiment.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or featuresof a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A blower comprising: a housing having a handle;an airflow tube extending from the front of the housing; a motor and afan positioned within the housing, the motor driving the fan to blow airout of the airflow tube, the motor and fan positioned generally belowthe handle; and a battery to provide power to the motor, the batterypositioned generally below the motor so that the handle, motor andbattery are substantially vertically aligned.
 2. The blower of claim 1,wherein the blower is an in-line blower, wherein the airflow tubeincludes an first end where air enters the blower, a second end whereair exits the blower, and the airflow tube is linear so that the airflowpath is substantially straight.
 3. The blower of claim 2, wherein thefirst end is at the rear of the housing and defines an inlet plane thatis perpendicular to the airflow path.
 4. The blower of claim 1, whereinthe blower includes a battery housing attached to a lower portion of thehousing, the battery housing protecting the battery and supports theblower when placed on the ground.
 5. The blower of claim 4, wherein theairflow tube has a longitudinal axis, and when the blower is placed onthe ground, the longitudinal axis forms an angle between 3 degrees and10 degrees with the ground.
 6. The blower of claim 4, wherein theairflow tube has a longitudinal axis, and the handle form a longitudinalaxis, wherein the longitudinal axis of the handle relative to thelongitudinal axis of the airflow tube is between 15-25 degrees.
 7. Theblower of claim 4, wherein the airflow tube has a longitudinal axis, andwhen the blower is placed on the ground, the longitudinal axis forms anangle with the ground, and when a user lifts the blower from the ground,the handle is arranged so that the airflow tube maintains the angle ofthe longitudinal tube.
 8. A blower comprising: a housing having ahandle; an airflow tube extending from the front of the housing; a motorand a fan positioned within the housing, the motor driving the fan toblow air out of the airflow tube, the motor and fan positioned generallybelow the handle so that they are substantially vertically aligned. 9.The blower of claim 8, wherein the blower is an in-line blower, whereinthe airflow tube includes an first end where air enters the blower, asecond end where air exits the blower, and the airflow tube is linear sothat the airflow path is substantially straight.
 10. The blower of claim9, wherein the first end is at the rear of the housing and defines aninlet plane that is perpendicular to the airflow path.
 11. The blower ofclaim 8, wherein the airflow tube has a longitudinal axis, and when theblower is placed on the ground, the longitudinal axis forms an anglebetween 3 degrees and 10 degrees with the ground.
 12. The blower ofclaim 8, wherein the airflow tube has a longitudinal axis, and thehandle form a longitudinal axis, wherein the longitudinal axis of thehandle relative to the longitudinal axis of the airflow tube is between15-25 degrees.
 13. A blower comprising: a housing having a handle; anairflow tube extending from the front of the housing; a fan positionedwithin the housing below the handle; a motor driving the fan to blow airout of the airflow tube, the motor positioned generally below thehandle, the motor positioned outside the airflow tube.
 14. The blower ofclaim 13, where the motor is connected to the fan using a belt drivesystem.
 15. The blower of claim 13, wherein the blower is an in-lineblower, wherein the airflow tube includes an first end where air entersthe blower, a second end where air exits the blower, and the airflowtube is linear so that the airflow path is substantially straight. 16.The blower of claim 15, wherein the first end is at the rear of thehousing and defines an inlet plane that is perpendicular to the airflowpath.
 17. The blower of claim 13, wherein the airflow tube has alongitudinal axis, and when the blower is placed on the ground, thelongitudinal axis forms an angle between 3 degrees and 10 degrees withthe ground.
 18. The blower of claim 13, wherein the airflow tube has alongitudinal axis, and the handle form a longitudinal axis, wherein thelongitudinal axis of the handle relative to the longitudinal axis of theairflow tube is between 15-25 degrees.